Life Is The Infamous Edge
by RiggaMorris
Summary: Chloe is back. After a serious accident that broke both her legs, she's returned to running across the rooftops of Utopia. Her boss, Frank, has saddled her with a newcomer however - The sarcastic and cocky Max. Something looms on the horizon that threatens to destroy Chloe's way of life, and so Chloe, Max, and Max's "Old Friend" from Seattle have to face it head on. (ON HIATUS)
1. Running Free

_**Life Is The Infamous Edge**_

 _"You sure you wanna get into this so soon, Bulldog?"_ A voice crackled down Chloe Price's earpiece, causing her to sigh. She cracked her knuckles and continued her stretching, lifting her leg and pulling her knee closer to her chest.

"Fuck yeah, Frank. I've been out'a comission for two months, and I'm running out of scrip. I need this shit, my rents due, and Tori wont be happy to cover my ass again."

An audible sigh came back through her piece, and she simply chuckled quietly as she pulled her hair back. It was getting longer, she needed to cut it again. Maybe Courtney could help with that. Tori might be able to contact her.

 _"Alright, there's never any changing your mind. But you're going with the new recruit. She'll be with you in a half hour, give you some time to run around and get the wind back."_

"You're shitting me. I'm saddled with the newbie? Can't you put her with Rachel, or have her run solo jobs? I work better alone, Frank, you know this!"

Frank's voice was harsh suddenly as he spoke, before it relaxed into its usual commanding yet calm tone. _"For fuck sake Bulldog! You're the best runner this ratshit group has. The newbie has potential and talent, she'll fit right in, but you know the rules. You handle this assignment nicely and I'll get you one of the major leagues. And we have fucking nicknames for a reason, start using them."_

Chloe snorted. No fucking way was she using those dumb ass nicknames. She was barely able to tolerate people calling her Bulldog. He had a point though, if they got caught using real names, they may or may not be completely fucked.

"Why can't fuckin' Rachel, or Justin, or hell, even fucking Logan take her! I just got back to running!" She protested down the mic, her stretches finished.

 _"Nicknames, Bulldog! Retriever can't do it because she's already on a job, but she's meeting up with you to collect the pack. Beagle is probably lying in a den somewhere, stoned off his face, and Labrador fuckin' broke his spine remember? He's out of comission and will be for the forseeable future. The job I'm giving you is so simple even a fuckin' cat could do it. Get the pack, deliver it to Retriever by the radio tower, and she'll handle the rest. It's less a job and more a training session for our new recruit before she gets her new job. Usual scrip is still coming though."_

Chloe just sighed. "Fine. But I'm going off for a training run and coming off the line. My alarm is set for fifteen minutes, so I'll be back in time." She removed her earpiece, turning it off and tucking it safely into the pocket of her running pants before taking off.

Nothing felt as good as she did while running. The heavy rhythmic footfalls of her sneakers on the rooftops, the whistling of the wind past her ears and the soft pants that left her mouth all mixed together to create a cacophony of noises that mad everything perfect. Eventually her alarm went off, and so she came to a stop against a large AC unit on the top of a shopping centre she had landed on. Leaning against it for a moment, she exhaled slowly and itched an exposed shoulder before tugging at her baggy pants. Her fingerless leather gloves were then removed as she rubbed her hands together to itch her palms together, before letting out a heavy sigh.

"Fucking Frank saddling me with the newbie. She probably cant even fucking land correctly."

Her ranting continued as she turned and made her way back to the stop, pausing once she had scaled the pipe to the rooftop she was supposed to meet this newbie at. The girl was already there, leaning against a storage unit on the roof.

Maxine "Max, never Maxine" Caulfield stood impatiently, waiting for her 'teacher' to make an appearance. She was supposed to be here already, and as anyone who knew Max would say, Max wasn't very good at waiting for someone else.

A hand came up from the edge of the building, and - after a little grunting - up came a face, followed by a whole body. Max glanced over, chewing on the gum in her mouth still as she watched the moving figure. Bright blue hair, baggy white pants and a black tank top, a tattoo of a skull with vines, roses and butterflies over her right arm, black fingerless gloves, and a shit eating grin to follow through. Yeah. This was her 'teacher'.

"You must be the new kid. I'm Chloe, but Frank'll make you call me Bulldog. I'm your partner for this run. You know what you're doing?"

Max's hand moved to grip the elbow of her left arm, something she always did when slightly nervous. Years of time with a loud, brash group in Seattle however had given her false confidence, so despite her inner turmoil, she spoke with bravado.

"As much as anyone else. I've been running for years over in Seattle, but some shit went down and I had to come here. I already knew Rach, she hooked me up with Frank, so here I am."

She met Chloe's cobalt hues, and couldn't help but scowl a little at the completely disinterested look the woman gave, and scowl more when she spoke.

"I like the fact you think I give two shits about how you joined up. Come on, we've got a job to run and I want home. If you're hella talented, prove it. Any shmuck can boast."

Max rolled her eyes and turned. Already she was frustrated. This woman was going to be a big steaming asshole and Max was forced to work with her for now. Great. She wanted to play games? Time in Seattle had made her an expert at these kind of games.

"Then lets go." She said, before moving quickly. She scrabbled up the storage unit and pulled herself up, before running and leaping over to another roof, landing and rolling out of it.  
She was good at what she did. One of the best in Seattle. She figured she might as well make some money out of it.

Max was up on the next building, looking over at the bluenette who had yet to make the jump. The girl was grinning, and her voice rung out through the air.

"You move fucking quick, new kid! Frankie said you were good, but I didn't think you'd land succsessfully!"

Max snorted as she put in her earpiece, turning it on. She gestured to the female, watching as Chloe removed her own and turned it on, before she spoke down the mic.

"Are you feeling threatened that someone might be better than you at something? We have a job to do and I wanna get home." She mimicked the taller womans words back to her, and couldn't stop the smirk that crossed her lips as the bluenette's grin fell into a scowl. She turned and took off, chuckling quietly. Her chuckles were joined by another voice, and Max recognised it as their boss, Frank.

 _"Not many people mock Bulldog like that. You got guts, kid. Shame she's gonna catch up and rip them out of you."_

"If she can catch up, that is." Max giggled in return, only to be rewarded by more laughter from Frank, and muttering that she only assumed was Chloe. This was good. Rapport with her boss was good. Plus, a little competition in her work didn't hurt anyone."

"So anyway, we're meeting someone to drop off the package, and then what?" The brunette asked, pausing once she reached the building where the package was supposed to be hidden.

 _"That's where your job ends for the day. You'll go home once the package has been verified and the payment sent, and we'll break you off part of the scrip."_ Frank said down the earpiece. Max face fell ever so slightly at the mention of home, but her voice remained the same.

"Gotcha. Where is this package supposed to be? I'm on the rooftop. Wait, hold on. I see the plants. Thanks, Kennel Master. Tell Pompidou I said Hi!"

 _"No problem kid."_

Max glanced around before kneeling down to examine the rooftop plants. After a bit of hunting, she eventually found the yellow bag and grinned, lifting it over her shoulder. Tightening the strap so it didn't fall, she turned and was immediately met with the smirking face of her 'teacher'.

"'Sup, New kid. Gonna tell me your name or you gonna run away again?"

Max reached for her elbow again and slowly inhaled, but her false bravery wasn't as easily seen through. She spent many years mastering it.

"Tell you what, Chlo-mydia."

Chloe made a face of disgust at the nickname, but the short brunette paid no attention.

"You catch me, and I'll tell you anything you want, even after you were a rude asshole earlier."

The other girl scoffed, and Max let a soft grin touch her lips. False sense of security.

"Kid, I've been running these rooftops since I was fourteen. I know them like the back of my hand. Half my scrip says I can catch you in ten minutes."

Max beamed slightly and thrust her hand out. "Deal!"

The bluenette gripped the brunettes hand firmly, leather on leather squeaking slightly as they shook. After a moment of watching each other, Max took off, shoving past Chloe and leaping over the gap. She landed and gripped the edge of the building, pulling herself up and not even looking behind her as she stuck up her middle finger to the taller woman.

"Ten minutes has started, Beanpole!" She said down the mic, grin wide on her lips. "Better ask Kennel Master to divide the scrip now!"

She planted her left foot on a small wooden box, her right on a slightly taller one, and then jumped and pulled herself onto a large AC. That seemed to be a recurring theme on these rooftops. Glancing behind her breifly, she noticed Chloe was fairly close.

She hadn't wallrun for weeks now, but she simply threw herself into it, feet hitting the side of the building and momentum carrying her forward. She then leapt off, gripping the railing of the fire escape and scrabbling up. She landed on her feet and darted up the stairs as fast as she could, two at a time. Chloe wasn't too far behind, so after a moment she clambered onto the railings and leapt, gripping the edge of the building next to her and yanking herself up.

"It's been five minutes, you lanky ass! Betting your scrip sounds like a bad idea now, hm?"

Chloe was fucking furious. She was going to lose half her scrip to this smart bitch. She gave chase as best she could, but somehow, SOMEHOW she was unable to catch up to the girl. She'd landed badly on that wallrun and hurt her ankle slightly, so that burning pain simply made her angrier. She yelled down the earpiece, hoping Frank could hear her.

"Frank! You said she was a newbie, how the fuck is she outrunning me?! Where the fuck did she come from?" She panted, speeding up slightly as they were coming up to a rather large jump. She watched the package carrier leap, and for a second it looked like she made it, until a sudden shriek made her stop in her tracks.

Max had leapt too early and missed the edge, and for a second she plummeted towards the ground like a stone. Her right arm shot up suddenly, and everything seemed to freeze in place, before moving backwards slowly. A slow purple spiral surrounded her, working its way to the very end. Her body moved, lifting through the air and placing her back on the roof, mid run. This time, she waited till she was at the very edge of the damn building before leaping.

"Frank! You said she was a newbie, how the fuck is she outrunning me?! Where the fuck did she come from?" Chloe panted, speeding up slightly as they were coming to a rather large jump. She watched the package carrier leap, and couldn't help but admire the girls form as she made it across the gap. It was a pretty big jump, but the girl had managed to grip onto the pipe on the edge and shimmy up, climbing onto another AC and then strangely coming to a pause.

Frank crackled back into existance and spoke down the air, Chloe and Max both listening in closely.

 _"She used to run with a pretty big crew over in Seattle, after Arcadia Bay. She met Retriever whilst in Arcadia Bay, leaving after the freak storm in 2013 destroyed the entire town."_  
He sounded like he was reading this off a file, and Chloe managed to climb up the side of the building to catch up with the other female.

"I don't appreciate you spilling all my secrets to my sworn enemy, Kennel Master." The brunette said, flashing a toothy white grin to the other female as she sat down.

 _"If it's any consolation, Greyhound, you're getting half of Bulldog's paycheck. The least you can do is let her know who she's up against."_

"You're kidding, Frank. It's been ten minutes already?! Fuck! I don't have to give her that much, do I?!" Chloe said, glaring at the other female who was kicking her legs off the edge of the AC. The brunette looked up and gave another grin, along with sticking her thumb up.

"We shook hands on it, Beanpole." She muttered, and Chloe wanted to punch that smug grin off the shorter girls face.

 _"Greyhound is right, Bulldog. You know the rules. Greyhound, fill Bulldog in, I'll go see if I can get in contact with Retriever and see where she is."_ The audible static and then slow beep into silence let them know Frank had come off the line for now, letting them use real names.

Max exhaled slowly and lay back, looking at the other girl upside down. "This is the pick up, and because Retriever isn't here, I'll tell you a tale."

Chloe moved and sat next to the female, cross-legged and playing with her leather glove. Max watched her for a moment before giving a grin.

"The name is Max. My last name holds some negative connotations, so we're not gonna talk about that right now. Remeber the freak storm that Frank mentioned? After it destroyed my hometown, I left the place. Too much bad memories. I knew Rach from Blackwell, and when she told me she got a gig with some fairly decent people, I knew I had to join up. I spent a few more months in Seattle saying goodbye to everyone, found Rachel and she set me up here. I was running with a pretty small but famous group in Seattle though. You ever hear of a group called The Conduits?"

Chloe sat up suddenly. Had she ever heard of The Conduits? Duh, of course she had! She'd wanted to run with them ever since step-douche kicked her ass into the streets.

"Holy fuck Max, you're a member? Thats so fucking awesome!"

Max shook her head. "Was. Some shit went down when one of our group, Hank, went a little crazy and crashed a bus into a junkyard. They brought in some other childish asshole. Liked to think of himself as a "Bad Boy", in reality he was just a douchebag with a self-righteous, self-centered attitude." She used air-quotes to describe the male. "Damn, I hated that guy. After a pretty heavy argument he had with my running partner and girlfriend at the time, I almost killed the guy."

She sighed, leaving out the part where she HAD killed the guy, and simply wiped that part out of existance with her powers. Chloe didn't need to know about Max's abilities just yet, nor about the abilities of her running group. Not many people made it into The Conduits. They were very selective about their members.

"So I went back to Arcadia Bay. I was born there, moved to Seattle when I was thirteen. The place was familiar there. Some...shit went down involving a teacher at Blackwell, and after the tornado wrecked the place I wanted to start again. I was good at taking pictures, but I'm one of the best at this kind of thing...and this was gonna make me more money quicker."

She then suddenly grinned. "I still sometimes get messeges from the old group. Or at least the two I like. They miss me. I don't plan on heading back though. After Hank died, Delsin - the new guy - went on a bit of a rampage and ended up attracting way too much attention. They even ended up making a special task force to hunt us down. We'd lived pretty harmlessly with the civillians, we didn't hurt them, they didn't hurt us...but Delsin got into some serious shit. Abby - she'd kill me if she knew I was calling her that - and I eventually got so torn over it that we just kinda...stopped. I left a couple of months after, like I said. We still talk, she calls me quite often. I'm sure if I was to go back, I'd take her back in a heartbeat. You'd like her. She's kinda like you. Bright pink hair, crazy attitude and she's super good at what she does."

She stretched out, and her t-shirt lifted ever so slightly. Chloe glanced down and noticed several scars running over the smaller girls stomach. Her brow furrowed ever so slightly, and she glanced over to ask, only to spot a familiar long-haired blonde in the distance.

"Here's our pick-up." She mumbled as she stood, and Max sat up, turning to the figure in the distance.

"Well well well, if it isn't my little Maxine! I figured Frank would pair you with Chloe here!" Rachel yelled as she got close, and Max grinned as she stood up. She then darted forward and caught the blonde in a tight hug, before stepping back.

"Max, never Maxine. And yeah, she's been showing me around and getting her butt handed to her at the same time." Max shot back, cockily lifting a brow to the taller girl behind her.

"Fuck off, _Maxine._ " Chloe grunted, folding her arms before glancing over to Rachel. The blonde was sipping her one feather earring around in her fingers, something she did when feeling nervous, michevious, or both. The looks the blonde kept giving to Max only further cemented Chloe's suspicions. The bluenette had fallen for those amorous looks and playful teases before, leading to some serious heavy petting in her apartment. A shiver ran up her spine.  
Those times had been fun, but bad. They both agreed it had been a mistake a few days after that, and had simply went on like it never happened.

"Well, Maxitron, as a reward for kicking Priceless' ass, earning yourself a bonus, and delivering this package unbroken to boot...I'm extremely tempted to ask you out to dinner." Rachel flirted, catching Max's deep blue eyes with her own hazel ones.

Max shuffled on her feet, hand moving to her elbow and squeezing it tightly. "Uh...no, thats okay. But can you point out a motel to me?"

Chloe tilted her head in slight confusion, listening closely to Rachel explaining the route to the nearest one. "Can't find a place to stay?" She eventually asked, and Max shook her head.

"No, most apartments require a deposit and I have fifty bucks until the scrip from this job comes in."

Chloe and Max met eyes and simply watched eachother for a moment before the bluenette pursed her lips.

"You can crash at mine tonight. My roommate is a bit of a stuck up prep, but she shouldn't be any problem. You can crash at mine and tomorrow I'll help you hunt down an apartment."

Max blinked at the woman, before a shy smile touched her lips. "If you're sure...T-Thank you. I'll buy drinks and stuff, we can hang out."

It was amazing how fast Max's fake bravado fell away around these two girls. Rachel, who she had known for years, and Chloe, who she had only just met. She was back to her quiet, shy self. Great.

Chloe glanced over to Rachel, who was staring at Max with an expression one might see on a shark when it spots a tasty looking seal.

"You wanna come along, Rach?"

The blonde looked over to the taller girl and then simply shrugged before giving a grin. "Of course! Let me drop this off and I'll meet you there. Through the window?"

"To the wall." Max mumbled under her breath, and Chloe had to fight back a laugh.

"Yeah. C'mon, Maxi-Pad. Let's leave Lara Croft's less attractive sister to do her job. Oh! By the way, how much scrip are we getting?"

Rachel was examining her flawlessly painted nails, lips pursed. "A thousand bucks. Max is getting three thousand since you bet half you're scrip."

Max's mouth dropped open in shock, at the exact same time Chloe's mouth released enough curses to make a sailor blush.

"Fucking Frank! Does everyone know about that shit?!"

"Yeah." Rachel smirked. "Frank relayed the messages around. Logan thinks it's fucking hilarious, and Justin was too off his face to say anything coherent. I have to go, I'll be at yours at the usual time."

Chloe just nodded and waved her hand in frustration, before glancing to a stunned Max. She lifted her hand and clicked her fingers in front of the female a couple of times, waking her up from her shock.

"Maximum Prime, what's gotten into you?"

Max was still astonished. Three thousand dollars?! For running a simple job that required no escaping the cops, no gathering intel, no assault, and no murder.

"Why is it so much money?" She asked, and Chloe blinked.

"The fuck do you mean so much? The job cost ten to run. Rach gets two, I got two, you got two, Frank got two, and whatever's left gets stored into the vault. Isn't that the amount you got paid in Seattle?" Chloe said, strawberry blonde eyebrow lifted.

"I never got paid in Seattle." Max answered with a shake of her head. "The money we got from jobs was usually piss poor and went back into stocking up the home base. We all just kinda hung out there unless we were running. We had food, clothes, a bed each, and all that shit."

"How the fuck do you have fifty bucks in your pocket?"

"Oh. Uh..." She grabbed her elbow again before inhaling slowly. "I may have stolen some cash from the vault before I left. Delsin wanted to build an expansion to the base, a firing range, but that was bullshit. So I broke in, stole all the cash, and fucked off to Portland for a while. This is all I have left." She gave a harmless smile, before turning her back to the taller female who was watching her with a slack jaw. "We should go to a store and pick up some food and shit for tonight. My treat."

Chloe closed her mouth, and just stared at the back of the other womans head.

"Uh...sure. Lead the way."

 _ **A/N: So I had this idea in my notebook for a while now; a cross over between three of my favourite video games. Mirrors Edge, Life is Strange, and Infamous: Second Son. Let the story commence! (TAGS: AmberPrice blatantly mentioned, eventual PriceField, blatantly hinted ChaseField, NSFW for Smut (At some point), mentions of rape, drug use, violence and kidnapping)**_


	2. Lights, Camera, Exposition!

_**Lights, Camera, EXPOSITION**_

Max was actually really comfortable in her current position. Sat back against the black leather couch, she had Chloe's long legs stretched over her lap, and Chloe's roommate had her back against Max's shoulder, her legs over the arm of the couch. Rachel was sat on the floor, leaning against Max's legs and idly chatting.  
Chloe's apartment had been a lot cleaner than Max had expected, although her roomate was probably the cause of that.

The TV was on, playing a random movie that was usually on at 10pm, but Max wasn't paying attention. She casually smirked, glancing to the three girls. "It feels like I have a harem."

Immediately, Chloe's roommate moved and folded her arms. Victoria Chase was the complete opposite of Chloe Price. Tall, sure. Short hair, sure; but that was where the similarities ended. Victoria was prim and proper, studied Photography at a private college, wore expensive clothing that would probably put Max in the poorhouse, and watched fashion shit on TV. Chloe was a punk, evident in her mannerisms, her attitude, her crazy blue hair and her taste in music.

"You wish it was a harem, hippie." Victoria scoffed, and Max simply plastered on a confident grin, giving a casual shrug. "Maybe. All three of you are gorgeous. I'd love a harem if it was you guys."

Chloe wasn't paying attention to the conversation, too busy watching the movie. Bladerunner was probably the greatest movie of all time, and it was for sure her favourite. However, she couldn't help but glance up at this to catch Victoria's shocked face, and her brow lifted as Rachel spoke with that smooth, sultry voice she reserved for when she was REALLY trying to flirt.

"We'll be in your harem, Maxy! Can I be the star attraction though? I have the looks."  
The blonde flipped her hair behind her head as punctuation to her sentence, and Max snickered.

"Maybe. How good are you in bed?"

Rachel paused, eyebrow cocked. Her lips turned up into a flirtatious smirk, and her head tipped to the side. "You should know never to ask a lady that question, and allow her to show you instead."

Max grinned. "I know not to ask a _lady_ that question. Thats why I'm asking you and not Victoria or Chloe."

That was it. The sudden insult followed by Rachels shocked face and Max's smug grin made Chloe practically screech with laughter, hands suddenly flying to her sides. Victoria on the other hand was holding it in, standing up and quietly leaving to her bedroom where she could laugh in private.

The bluenette swung her feet around and pulled Max into a tight hug, laughing still. Her tight _'welcome to the family'_ squeeze made Max giggle ever so slightly, smiling a sheepish apology to Rachel.  
The blonde looked both amused and upset, standing up in silence and heading to the kitchen for a drink.

"I hope I didn't hurt her feelings too bad." Max mumbled ans Chloe eventually calmed down, letting the smaller girl go.

"Nah, BatMax. Rachel's a tough cookie, she can take what she gives. She's probably just furstrated she hasn't been able to seduce you yet."

On the inside, Max was letting out a loud shriek. Someone as hot as Rachel wanted to sleep with her? She wasn't really interested in the female, but still, Max knew beauty when she saw it, and Rachel absolutley encapsulated beauty.

On the outside, however, Max remained calm, but her hand found her elbow again. She inhaled slowly before showing a confident smile. "No, she won't get to either. I have my eyes on someone else."

Chloe lifted an eyebrow, and for some reason she could feel her heart begin to race. "Oh? Who?"

The brunette went red and glanced at the door Victoria had walked through, before turning back to the other girl. "I've known her for less than a day, but she's really hot...and I'd love to just pin her against a wall and take her."

The punk shivered slightly as she watched the other girl, her blue locks falling slightly as she tilted her head. "I'm sure if you asked her on a date or something, she'd happily go out with you."

Max scoffed. "Thank's for the advice, Chlo, but her reaction when I suggested we should get into a harem suggests otherwise. Plus, I don't even want a relationship with her. Fuck that. I just want into her pants. I miss the contact. My last relationship didn't end well, I don't want that again."

Chloe sat, confused for a moment, before the realisation set in and her face fell ever so slightly. She ment her roommate, Tori.  
Fuck.

Why had she gotten her hopes up anyway? Max and Chloe were total opposites, it was a stupid move. Besides, they had to work together! The awkwardness between Rach and herself only served to prove as to how bad an idea it was.

"Victoria's an easy person to talk to, surprisingly enough. She might be an asshole but if you ask her for sex she'll probably give you a straight answer. Ironically she doesn't fuck around with that kinda thing." She mumbled, turning back to the movie. She saw Rachel re-enter the room just as Max stood up, and noticed the blondes face fall ever so slightly.

"Turning in so soon, Maxitron? I was just preparing a bunch of insults to hurl at you for offending me."

Max shook her head at Rachel's excited smirk, and her head tilted. "I'm not turning in. I wanted to ask Victoria a question. Is she in her room?"

Rachel lifted her eyebrow and gave a nod. "Yeah, Bitchtoria's in there. Why?" She asked, as she plopped down next to Chloe on the couch. The bluenette was still engrossed in the movie, and Rachel waited for an answer, only for Max to turn and walk to the door, knocking and stepping in. The blonde lifted her eyebrow slightly higher and turned to her sofa-buddy, who was now glaring at the floor.

"She's gone to see if Tori's down to fuck," came Chloe's answer to the unasked question. "She's been interested in her since they met."

"You're fucking joking. I'm basically throwing myself at that adorable fuck and she goes off to shag the stuck up prep?" Rachel asked incredulously, before giving a grumpy sigh and cracking open the beer she had raided from Chloe's fridge. A snort hit her ears and she turned immediately on the bluenette, who was watching her with a look of derision.

"What? She's adorable and I wanna get in her pants." She defended.

Chloe laughed bitterly, head shaking. "Rach, you get in everyones pants. Suddenly someone doesn't want you and you react like a stuck up child."

"You weren't moaning when I got into your pants. Oh wait, you totally were."  
Rachel's voice was teasing, airy, but all it did was make Chloe angry.

"Fuck you."

Her face was contorted into a look of fury and regret, and Rachel couldn't help but stare at the female, confused. "Huh?"

"You heard me. How fucking dare you throw that in my face. After we even spoke about how much of a mistake it was, yet you come in here and when some girl way out of your league doesn't immediately jump into bed with you, you're this upset you bring that shit up again?! God, you're like a bitch in heat."

Rachel opened her mouth, only for the crass remark on her lips to be silenced by a giggle. She paused and glanced over to Victoria's door, listening curiously. There was what sounded like a scuffle, and after a loud crash Rachel heard Victoria's voice once again. It was light, airy, giggly.

"You bitch, that was my favourite lamp."

Chloe snorted and stood up, moving to pull on her shoes. "I'm going to the roof," she mumbled. "You're welcome to come, or you can sit and listen to this shit. I don't wanna hear this."

Rachel sat for a moment, unsure what to do as Chloe climbed out of the window and up the fire escape. A loud, high-pitched moan on the other hand decided for her, and she left instantly, scrabbling out the window and up onto the roof.

"Max was shy as fuck when I first met her, man. Why is she suddenly all confident now?" She asked rhetorically, and Chloe simply let out a snort, removing a pack of cigarettes from her pocket.

"Shy. I don't believe that for a second. She mocked me when we first met." The bluenette mused to a sigh from the blonde.

"You were pretty rude to her though."

"Fuck sake, does everyone know about that?" Chloe asked the sky, leaning back. Giving a slow yawn, she shook her head as she sparked up. "They're gonna be a while. Wanna smoke?"

Rachel moved and sat next to the other female, giving a slow sigh after she took a cigarette. "I'm sorry about bringing all that shit up."

"Don't worry about it. It's your kinda fucking humour. Just keep that shit under your hat, please. I don't want everyone to hear about it." The bluenette casually remarked, lifting her zippo to the other females cigarette. The flame lit the end easily, and she tucked the silver lighter back into her pocket.

A sudden shriek caused both Rachel and Chloe to practically leap up, followed by the slam of a door. The window opened, and up poked the brown shaggy hair of Max, who looked fairly sheepish.

"Hey. Room for one more? Victoria threw me out."

Rachel stared, confused. "You were in there for like four minutes, how the hell did you fuck up that quickly?"

"I uh...I may or may not have sneezed into her mouth as we were making out." She admitted, looking down and kicking her shoe with her other foot. Her hand moved to her elbow, but she smiled as both Chloe and Rachel burst out laughing.

"Max, you're gross. Come smoke with us." Chloe grinned. She put an arm out, and Max lifted an eyebrow slightly before giving a shrug. Why the fuck not. She'd been Straight-edge until Blackwell, time to cut loose.

She moved and slumped against the AC next to the pair, leaning forward and taking the cigarette straight from the tall bluenette's lips. She then sighed dramatically as it had gone out, and leaned over Chloe to grip the back of Rachel's head. She held the stick between her lips and lit it with the embers of the blondes own, taking a deep drag and handing it back to its original owner.

Chloe stared, eyes wide as the cigarette was placed back between her lips. Max was turning out to be a serious mystery. She was shy, but did shit like this?

"Max, c'mon. You gotta tell me your story, you're a fucking enigma." Rachel asked, her voice bringing Chloe back from her confusion.

"You're super hot and confident now, but when we first met in Arcadia, you were quiet and shy as fuck. You told me you never liked hooking up with people, yet if you hadn't sneezed on Tori you'd be spending the night in her bed. The fuck?"

Max remained silent for a moment, a soft grin on her lips. Exhaling a thick plume of smoke through her nose, she gave an aimless shrug and grinned. She wanted to see how much of her story they would believe. Frank already sort of knew.

"You two already know I was part of The Conduits. You already know I was in AB when the tornado hit." She paused at this after a moment, inhaling slowly. Her hand moved to her elbow, gripping it tight.

"What do you two know about The Conduits?"

Chloe exhaled her smoke slowly and ashed it onto the roof, head tilting. "They're supposed to be the greatest running group in existance. Apart from what you've told me, thats all I really know."

Rachel continued, however. "I know a little more. They were made up of five people originally, until one of them wanted out of the life and instead started working for the cops and stuff. She's the reason they don't get into any danger with the police, or at least until one of the members went crazy, driven to the brink of insanity by something."  
Rachel paused for a moment. "He crashed a bus into some sort of reservation junkyard and died pretty soon after..."

Max nodded quietly. "Unless you have literal superpowers, they basically treat you like you don't exist. You think I'm kidding, I'm not. The theory is through extreme trauma, one can unlock their abilities. But! Like, one in every billion people have an ability from birth. It differs depending on the person. For example, Hank could fuck around with smoke,"

Max smiled quietly at the memory of her old friend. The gruff male who was such a sweetheart.

"This is crazy sounding, I know, but he could basically go wherever he wanted with it. Down drains, through vents. He was like a ninja. Did you ever see Avatar?"

Rachel titled her head quietly. "You mean the James Cameron movie?"  
Chloe turned and slapped the blonde up the side of the head. "You're an idiot, we need to get you some nerd education."  
She then went quiet. This was a good story Max was making up, but thats all it was. A story. Fiction. Who the fuck had superpowers?

Max laughed at the banter between the two, shaking her head at the long-haired blonde. "No, the cartoon. Well, anime. Whatever you want to call it. The idea is similar. Hank could basically get smoke to do whatever he wanted. Eugene...man, he's a nerd. But he's talented. As long as he has some sort of game in his hand, he can basically manipulate it into the real world. Angel wings, demons, the whole shabang. The dude is mad talented at it. Plus, he's a genius."

She frowned at the next name, pausing a moment. "Delsin. He's a drain. Like...Rouge from the X-Men Comics. Anything he touches, he gains their powers. He's a waste of time. We use our powers to do deliveries, to help the rich and the poor. He doesn't realise it. He draws attention to the group, stealing shit and vandalising everything."  
She inhaled slowly. "His brother, god rest his soul, died trying to help us against the police, and after that he went a bit crazy. We haven't heard directly from him in years, but we know he's out there. Eugene keeps filling us in on crazy news stories. Fetch on the other hand, was kinda sad to see him go."

Rachel was playing with her earring as she listened. "Who's Fetch? Is she the girl I dealt with when trying to get our groups in contact?"

Max smiled slightly. "Yeah. Pink hair? She's uh, she's different. Special. Eugene calls her abilities "Neon". Think like...it's tough to explain without seeing it. She can do something similar to Hank, where she can run up walls by basically blurring herself and going super quick, leaving behind a bright pink trail."

Just as Max finished her statement, her mobile phone buzzed and she yanked it out of her pocket. She then unlocked it, before exhaling and flashing the screen to the two. "Speak of the devil. I gotta take this."

Chloe and Rachel listened quietly, glancing at eachother in confusion every now and then. Max began talking, sounding a lot more confident than she did whilst talking to the two of them.

"Whats up? I knew it was you. Yes. Yeah, I know what you're gonna say. Of course I'm still using it? The headaches don't bother me earlier. I fell earlier, would have died if I didn't use it. No, I haven't stolen anything. No, I have not done _that_ yet either, you pervert."

Chloe caught Max's blue eyes as she was casually glanced at, and couldn't help but blush as the smirk that took the shorter girls lips.

"I might, though. Yes, I've seen a couple. No. Almost. I sneezed on someone though. Yes I remember when that happened. Excuse me, but your hair was in my nose!"

Suddenly the girl went bright red, and the other two older women were just blown away. What on earth were they talking about?

"I refuse to repeat that incident in front of guests. I made it up to you though, with the flowers, remember! No, I me-...Fetch, just shu...For god sake Abby, shush! You talk as fast as you run. Yes, I'm sorry for using your name. Are you really considering that? Oh my dog, you totally should! Bulldog would love you. It's a calm place. You've met Retriever before, right? Yes, long blonde. Alright, alright, you can. I'm interested in the other one. I'm getting some weird looks now though, so I gotta go. Keep it in your pants until you get here though."

Max hung up and turned to the two astonished girls, who shared a look and then glanced back to the brunette. Her brow cocked and she gave a less-than-innocent smirk.

"What? Oh, the conversation? Yeah, she likes checking up on me. Now where were we? Oh! My powers. Right, well, the easiest way to explain it is that I can rewind time. So I live the future, and then come back to a certain point with my memories intact. I can bring objects back with me, along with people. Whoever I travel with retains all their memoires, but no one else - to them, I've just reset it."

"We're gonna need something more than just some hella cool sounding exposition, SuperMax. Prove it," Chloe said, voice cocky. "Guess what's in Rachel's Pockets."

Max grinned slightly, and without moving, simply tilted her head. "An empty pack of cigarettes with a butt inside it, her phone, keys to her apartment, and a photo of her and who I THINK is Frank, but he doesn't have the beard. It's an old photo, maybe three years because of the date written on the top corner."

Rachel paled. No one but Chloe knew she carried that photo around, and no one had told Max about it. Had they?

Chloe opened her mouth again, her cocky grin having faded slightly. A single noise slipped out of her mouth before she was cut off by the brunette who had stolen another cigarette, having lit it with the burning embers of the bluenette's old one.

"You're gonna ask me what colour your underpants are, Chlo. Black male boxers. You wear them because they're comfier for running. Less restriction." Max snickered as Chloe's jaw fell.

"You believe me now? Fetch calls it Rewind. Its useful for when I'm running. If I take a ledge badly, or if I miss completely, I can reset my entire body back to before I jump. Sort of like returning to a checkpoint in a video game, only if I don't do it fast enough I'll die in real life, and its a permanent game over."

She stood up after finishing her second cigarette; putting it out on the roof and exhaling a plume of smoke, swaying her fingers through it. Her lips turned up into a quiet smile as she spoke, mostly to herself. "Hank'd be proud of where I'm at. Moving on after all that shit at the bay,"

Turning, she glanced at the two females next to her and sent over a smile. "I have to do something tomorrow. Go see someone, so I can't run any jobs."

"Thats alright, I'm the only one with a job tomorrow, Chloe'll be coming with me. We never really run on weekends, unless its for a special case." Rachel smiled, standing up and stretching out. "Who're you going to visit?"

Max remained silent for a moment before inhaling slowly. "My friend. Kate Marsh."

Rachel and Chloe's eyebrows both practically shot off their heads and into space. Max was friends with Kate Marsh, arguably the richest woman in the entirety of Utopia, and who had donated almost half her riches to funding the police program? For being young, Marsh was fucking loaded.

"You're friends with fucking Marsh?" Chloe asked incredulously. "Max, holy shit - there is so much shit we don't know about you. You keep talking about Arcadia Bay for example, what the fuck happened?"

Max brushed off the questioning with a casual wave of her hand.  
"I just told you two I could rewind time, lets take the past slow. After all..." She trailed off, and a wide, shit-eating grin touched her lips. "We have literally all the time in the world. Now I'm gonna go to sleep. I'll see you guys tomorrow before I leave. Thanks for letting me use the couch." She made her way to the end of the building and simply dropped onto the fire escape, climbing back into the window.

Chloe and Rachel stood, dumbfounded on the rooftop. Nothing ever rendered Chloe speechless, yet here she was unable to form even thoughts let alone sentences. Someone who could rewind _time_ had just started working with them. She was also an ex member of arguably the greatest running group in the world, and had even survived through the Storm of 2013 in Arcadia Bay.

She was brought back to reality by Rachel snapping her fingers, and looked up at the standing blonde. "Wuh?"

"I said 'When do you think we'll discover everything there is to know about Max?', you idiot." Rachel repeated, and Chloe could only shrug. "Fuck knows. Hopefully soon."

The blonde nodded quietly. "She certainly is an enigma."

 _ **A/N: Yeah, I derailed from the story. I wanted to explain some of Max's background, and the idea that she's a Conduit from InFamous: Second Son has been thrown around a lot. Considering she lived in Seattle, which is where InFamous: SS is set, it would at least work geographically. I know Utopia in Mirrors Edge is a fake city, but in my defence so is Arcadia Bay. Max is BADASS in this. I'd like to think that she's still a nervous hipster under her layers, as years of hanging out with someone like Fetch has made her stronger. Think of it as Alt!Max.**_  
 _ **For those of you who've played all the games, I'm hoping you can see the character similarities and links. If not, here. Chloe is Faith Connors, Rachel is Celeste, Frank is Merc, Kate will be Kate (or Cat, but we're ignoring Catalyst for now). A lot of the story WILL be changed, because this is just a fun little side-project I wanted to write out.**_  
 _ **Criticism is always appreciated! Help me make my story better, it would mean a lot! 3**_


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